Change of Plans for Tonight's Campground

We got up this morning at 7:30 - we slept in a little this morning since we only have 223 miles to drive today. We left Leisure Time RV Park at 9:00. I had missed getting a photo of the campground sign, so I took it as we were leaving.

We got on I-75 and headed south. We debated whether to drive through Atlanta or to take I-285 around Atlanta. I kept checking the traffic situation on my iPhone and it looked like I-75 was a better choice. It turned out that we chose correctly, there was a lot of traffic, but it kept moving with no holdups or problems.

We were making such good time today, that we decided to drive farther than we originally planned and decided to stop at Madison Campground in Madison, FL.

We stopped to get gas at a Flying J station at Jackson, GA at 11:15. We paid $3.229 a gallon for premium. We decided to eat an early lunch at the Denny's there and found a RV parking slot to park in. We left the engine and A/C running (with the doors locked) while we went in to eat lunch. It was 12:20 when we got back on to I-75.

I looked in the back seat this afternoon and saw that Tinker had pulled Bear (his favorite toy) up on the seat with him. It was so cute with Tinker snuggling with Bear and napping.

After lunch we called Madison Campground and made a reservation for tonight. It is a Passport America

Clarksville, TN to Adairsville, GA

It was 61° when we left Spring Creek Campground this morning at 8:45. I had missed getting a photo of the campground sign yesterday, so I got a photo this morning.

We got on to I-24 and headed east towards Nashville. We passed through Nashville at 9:40 and I managed to get a few photos of Nashville's skyline.

We stopped for gas at 11:20 at a Pilot Truck Stop at Monteagle, TN and paid $3.179 a gallon for premium grade. We had decided to have lunch at the Wendy's at the Pilot, but there were no parking spaces for RVs. We drove over to the truck entrance for Pilot and found a place we could park that was out of the way of the trucks.

We had stopped yesterday at a Wendy's for lunch and I had wanted Chicken Tenders, but they said they were out. So today I was ready to order Chicken Tenders and was told that Wendy's has discontinued selling them. Really?! I ordered a Son of Baconator meal and Mike got one but with chili instead of fries. It was 71° when we stopped for lunch, so we left the car & A/C running while we had lunch. 

After feeding and walking Tinker, we called Leisure Time RV Park to make a reservation for tonight. He

Cave-in-Rock Ferry Ride and Spring Creek Campground

We got up this morning at 7:00 and it was 44° with a wind chill of 39°. Jack fixed homemade biscuits and gravy for breakfast this morning - a great start for our day. After breakfast, Mike and I loaded our stuff in the trailer and hitched up the car. We thanked Frances and Jack for the great food and visit before we left.

We drove south on IL-34 to IL-142 and then south on IL-1 

to the town of Cave-in-Rock to take the ferry across the Ohio River to Kentucky. 

We arrived at the river's edge at 10:45 and the Cave-in-Rock ferry had already left and was crossing the Ohio River to Kentucky.

The river was a lot higher this time than when we were here last and that's due to all of the rain that has come through this area. We got out of the car and walked Tinker while we waited for the ferry to return.

There were several cars on the returning ferry and once they disembarked, we were signaled to drive on to the ferry. There were several cars that boarded the ferry after us. 

We left Illinois at 11:00 and started across the Ohio River and we were able to get out of the car.

Visit with Sue's Cousins

This morning Frances' husband Jack fixed waffles and bacon for breakfast - a great way to start the morning. The morning started out sunny, but changed to cloudy and then rain. Fortunately, the rain was only sporadic and not the downpour we had had on Thursday.

My cousin Eva and her son Bruce drove over from Troy, IL this morning and met us at the Bonnie Cafe in West Frankfort at 12:30 for lunch. My cousin Sally joined us a little later, so there were 7 of us - Mike and I, Frances & Jack, Eva, Bruce and Sally.  

Then after lunch we all drove over to Sally's house for dessert and coffee. We had chocolate pie and small lemon muffins and coffee.

In the photo above are - Jack (Frances' husband), Bruce (Eva's son), Sally, Frances, Eva and me. I hadn't met Bruce and it was nice to finally meet him - I'd heard his mother Eva talk about him and his brothers over the years. 

We had a great visit, but it came time for Bruce and Eva to head back home and we left at the same time. Before we returned to their house, they took us on a drive and we drove out of West Frankfort to see the house my parents lived in during the 1930's and Frances' parents lived next door. Frances' dad and my dad were brothers.

We've had a good time visiting with them, but we are leaving in the morning and heading south.

Trip to Old Cemeteries in Vienna

This morning when we got up, the rain was gone and the sun was out - a much nicer day than yesterday. After breakfast Mike and I drove the 44 miles down to Vienna 

to look for a couple of cemeteries that my great-grandparents and 2nd great-grandparents are buried in. I had looked up the directions and knew where they were located.

The first one we went to was the Wildcat Cemetery and was down a narrow gravel road.

We parked the car just off of the road and started walking around the cemetery. I was looking for my Utley great-grandparents, but unfortunately the majority of the gravestones were unreadable and there were a large number of stones that were broken or only pieces of the stones were still there.

We then drove back into Vienna and down another road to find the Holt Cemetery. According to Google Maps there was a road leading out to the cemetery, but when we got to the location of the road it wasn't

Jonesburg to Benton, IL

It was foggy when we got up this morning and was supposed to start raining here at Jonesburg. Mike hadn't emptied our black or gray water tanks at the last couple of campgrounds, but he emptied them this morning before we left the campground at 9:35.

We stopped at the Phillips 66 station at the I-70 exit to get gas before we got on to I-70 East. We paid $3.059 a gallon for premium grade. It was 10:00 when we got on I-70 and it had warmed up to 57°. 

Not too long after we got on I-70 the fog quickly changed to rain, so it really cut down on my photo taking today.

We crossed the Missouri River about 10:40.

A couple of minutes later before we crossed the Mississippi River, I did get a photo of the Gateway Arch through the fog and rain.

Then we crossed the Mississippi River

and entered Illinois.

We stopped in Mount Vernon for lunch at a Denny's. Fortunately it had stopped raining when we got to

Driving from Paxico, KS to Jonesboro, MO

It was a little warmer this morning when we got up at 7:00. By the time we left the campground at 9:00, the temperature was 57°. Yesterday when we arrived here at Paxico, we could see several really old buildings in town and decided to drive around a bit before we left this morning. 

We left Paxico and got on I-70 East. It was foggy and overcast for most of today which made taking photos of the scenery a challenge. 

We drove through Topeka and crossed the Kansas River at 10:15.

About a half hour later we drove through Kansas City. I don't know if the haze over the city is normal or not, but it made it difficult to see much of the city.

It wasn't until after we passed through Kansas City, did I realize I had missed the signs for the Kansas and

Driving from Oakley to Paxico, Kansas

We got up at 7:00 this morning because we had 300 miles to drive today to our next campground in Grantville, KS. It was 35° when we got up, but had warmed up to 37° with a wind chill of 32° when we started to break camp. While Mike was disconnecting the electric, I took photos of our campsite and the campground that we didn't take yesterday.

It was 8:40 when we left the campground and stopped to get gas at the Cenex station ($3.149 a gallon) before getting on to I-70.

I didn't take a lot of road pictures today because we drove mostly through flat farmland.

But I did find some interesting things to take photos of such as this old house made out of natural stone and the barn next to it.

We decided to shorten our driving day and cancelled our reservation at the campground in Grantville, KS. We called a Good Sam campground at Paxico, KS and made a reservation for tonight which shortened our driving day by 36 miles.

We saw a lot of wind turbine farms

and a lot of oil wells pumping oil out in the farm land.

We stopped to get gas again at a Cenex ($3.299 a gallon) station in Russell, KS. There was a Pizza Hut across the street from the gas station and we went there for lunch. We found a place where we could park

Cherry Creek State Park to High Plains Camping

We left Cherry Creek State Park Campground this morning at 8:30. It was 41° and the wind chill was 37°. It was misting rain when we broke camp and it finally became rain as we got on to I-70 east. Because of the rain and fog, I wasn't able to take as many photos this morning as I usually would have.

After a couple of hours, the fog had lifted and we could see farther down the road.

The terrain was totally different from yesterday's drive and consisted mostly of farm land with a few farms scattered here and there. We also saw a lot of wind farms with wind turbines - some turning

Driving through the Rocky Mountains to Cherry Creek State Park

Mike forgot to set the alarm last night, so we didn't get up until 8:00. It was misting rain while we were breaking camp. We left the campground at 10:00 and it was 48° with a wind chill of 45°. We got on to I-70 and headed east and by then we started to have rain - not good for taking photos!

Fortunately the rain didn't last but maybe a half hour, so my chances of getting some good photos improved. Interstate 70 follows along the course of the Colorado River winding through the mountains which means I-70 is just as curvy as the river.

We passed through some green valleys before getting into the higher elevations.

We kept climbing until we reached the ski slopes of Vail

and I even managed to get a photo of people

Green River, Utah to Silt, Colorado

It was 64° when we left Green River State Park this morning at 9:20. We stopped at a Pilot Travel Center to get gas ($3.259 a gallon) before getting on to I-70 and heading east. I remember seeing Sunoco gas stations in Florida in the '50's and I always liked seeing the green dinosaurs and we now only see them when we are out west. 

As we drove east on I-70 the terrain changed from the towering mesas

to valleys and eventually to wide open plains.

We entered Colorado at 11:00 and the terrain changed again.

We stopped at a Colorado Welcome Center in Fruita, CO and just as we were to turn into the parking lot, we saw a sign saying it was closed. REALLY?! Why couldn't they have put a sign out on the interstate that it was closed? But then I wouldn't have been able to get a photo of this prairie dog (he was standing up on

Salt Lake City to Green River, Utah

It was 51° when we got up this morning. While we were breaking camp, a small tour bus of Japanese tourists came into the park to look at the marina. I saw a couple of them walk back up to the marina entrance and take photos of the dumpsters there. Then a man stopped to take photos of us hitching up the trailer. We stopped at the dump station to empty our tanks and another Japanese man stopped to take photos of Mike at the dump station. Mike tried to explain to him what he was doing, but the man didn't speak English.

We left the campground at 10:20 and got on to I-80 East towards Salt Lake City and then got on to I-215 South and eventually to I-15 South to Spanish Fork. We stopped at a Five Guys at Spanish Fork for lunch about noon and then got gas at a Texaco station ($3.099 a gallon) there before getting onto US-6 South.

US-6 is a scenic highway and we had some great scenery today. The highway wound between the Uinta National Forest and the Manti-La Sal National Forest. 

We steadily kept climbing up through the mountains

until we started to see

Sightseeing in Salt Lake City

Another sunny day in Salt Lake City and we took advantage of it. We left Tinker in his crate in the trailer while we drove into Salt Lake City. We first stopped at Wal-Mart to get a couple of things we had forgotten on our earlier shopping trip.

We parked at the same parking lot where I parked yesterday when I visited the Family History Library and then walked over to the Church History Museum - which is next to the Library. We took photos in front of the Library and the History Museum.

Mike was so impressed (& so was I) with the building the Museum was in, that he changed his mind about visiting the Museum.

We stopped first in the Museum's Gift Shop and I bought a couple of Christmas ornaments and a post card. Then we walked around the ground floor of the Museum with displays of the beginnings of Mormonism. It was really interesting to see all of the artifacts on display and that they had survived all this time.

We then walked across the street to the Tabernacle and as we were walking around towards the front entrance, we could hear the organ. There are daily organ recitals at noon and we were in time to go into the Tabernacle and listen to the recital - beautiful. 

We then walked around the Temple Square taking photos 

Research at Family History Library

Yesterday was our first full day here at the Great Salt Lake State Park and it rained all day. We did go out to do some shopping at a Wal-Mart near here and had lunch at a Five Guys before coming back to the trailer.

Today was sunny and really nice. I drove into Salt Lake City to do some research at the Family History Library. I parked at a parking lot in the block just north of the Library for $5 for the day. Unlike other pre-pay parking lots I've been to where you put the paid ticket on the dash, this one needed the license number. So I walked back to the car, took a photo of our tag and went back to pay. Then I looked on my receipt and it said it wasn't necessary to put the receipt on the dash. Great - except I had left my laptop in the car, anticipating having to return to the car to put the receipt in it. So another trip to the car to get my laptop before crossing the street to the Library.

I had already checked on the layout of the Library and had decided to do my research in the U.S. books section which is on the 3rd floor. The busiest section of the 3rd floor was the Library's computer section, but there weren't too many people using the tables. I spent about 4 hours going through books on Kentucky, Illinois, Kansas and Tennessee. I did find some information, but I didn't break any of my "brick walls". However, I now know that the information I was looking for isn't in those books (I hadn't found it online either) and I will have to find it elsewhere. 

Even though I didn't find anything substantial, I had a good time and look forward to returning - we're already thinking about another trip west, just not in the immediate future.

While I was at the Library, Mike helped the tent campers in the next campsite. It was a mother with her teenage daughter and elementary age daughter. It was their first camping trip and they had trouble getting